Upgrading from stock, 2005+
 

i currently drive a lifted truck and i'm getting sick of losing races to cars 1000lbs lighter than me, so i decided i want to buy a mustang.
i figured if i'm going to get a mustang, i might as well go with the new body style as this might reduce my chances of buying a vehicle with an abused engine.
so what i'm looking at is the 2005-2008's with the v6. i'd love to get the GT but i'd struggle to make payments on top of my bills so i'm left with the v6 option.
my question is, to those of you with strong automotive experience [because i posses little to none, to be honest], if given a stock mustang - what would you upgrade first?
i'm looking for a sequential list, starting with the most important and most performance increasing.
IE; "first put in a cold air intake, then headers, then dual exhaust, then intercooler, lowering springs, ram air hood, different ratio gears, mod chip, etc."
i want more acceleration as opposed to top end speed.
also, most importantly, i want my engine to be able to take the way i want to drive without getting damaged.
any help is greatly appreciated, i really need it.
thanks,
-brandon

why are you getting a intercooler? and cold air intakes are just for looks.

no no, i'm not getting any of that.
i mean i probably will, but that was just an example of a list i was hoping someone would give me.

It was an example...


Is the v6 Mustang really going to be a performance upgrade for you? I know trucks are in general not known for being quick but a v6 isn't much better, w/o upgrades ofcourse. I got beat by a couple of trucks when I had a v6.
Do you have a budget?

right now my explorer is a 4.0 v6 so i figured a lighter vehicle with lighter tires and no lift kit would be a noticable difference. plus i have 300 pounds of audio equipment that i'm getting rid of because i can't fit that in the mustang anyway. plus the engine will be newer.
i can keep up with most cars, i can win against some too, but i lose more often than i win.

anyway, i don't really have a budget, i make comfortable money.
at the same time, i don't have $7k for a turbo.
whatever i should get, i will get, eventually.
i just don't know what to put in.
...that's where this forum comes into play.

Alright, for better acceleration I would upgrade the ring and pinon gears to 4:10, a limited slip (T-lok) differential, a programmer to correct for the speedometer and for a performance tune. And have the gears installed by a professional, $250 being about average. The should end up somewhere close to a grand.

Why dont you just get a 99-04 GT and have a v8 mustang thats faster?

bingo!

there are still many 99-04 GT's out there with low miles for less than a new body v6.

well that's what got me started on a mustang trip.
i liked the '95 5.0's but then i figured if i was gonna get another car, why get something so old?
i have this thing where i get sick of a vehicle in about a year.
i've had 3 cars in the past 4 years.
i'm thinking if i get something new i'll like it for longer.
i just can't afford the '05 GT and still live comfortably with the bills that i have.

thanks so much, that's exactly the kind of answer i was looking for.
any suggestions on what to do after that?

by the time you do all of that, you could have a sweet down payment on a low miles 04 GT, and have low payments.

true.
i wanted the new body style but with the cash i would save, i could do alot to the '04 body-wise and have the GT engine.
hmm.
i change my mind all the time.
well reguardless of the car i choose, what could be done next?

dont buy a v6 mine is slow

seriously?

CAI on the new mustangs actually give decent gains unlike the 99-04 on the 99-04 its just for looks

haha. the 05+ v6's arent that bad at all. one of my buddies has an 07 Auto. It definetly blows MY v6 out of the water. (2001)
and i drove my friends 05 manual... oh was that a nice ride. he had a few mods (Headers, exhaust, shaker hood, hurst shifter, and more) and it drove very nicely. When he slapped me in the passenger seat, he showed me what that thing could really do. Quite impressive.

i always say its no problem getting the V6, just prepare to be bashed for not buying the GT! :p

oh, well i can't have that.
i'm gonna have to get the GT.
i'm going out looking now, as a matter of fact.

...to no avail.
i didn't find anything.

You can find some good deals. When I bought my 03 GT in 2005, it had 17,000 miles and I paid $12,500 for it. Check places like cars.com and autotrader.com (found mine on autotrader.com).

$12.5k for a car with 17k miles, that's a sweet deal.
i doubt i'll get that lucky but i'll definitely check those sites out, thanks.

so i'm thinking, i've got someone that offered me $2k for my system and i didn't want to sell that low but i doubt i'll find another buyer with that much cash on hand so i might just take it.
if i do, i think i'll put that to the side and use the money from my truck as a down payment, especially if i find a vehicle for under $10k.
then i'll take the cash from the system and i'll drop it into the engine.
it seems i already have a suggestion on how to spend the first grand, what would you [everyone] do with the second grand?
i may put it into the body or a new, smaller system but if i can do something impressive to the engine, i might as well go for that.
what are your suggestions?

I have to be honest, mine had a salvage title since it was previously stolen which is why it was so cheap. Funny how the insurance company totaled the car since the crook decided to jack up the front end at the radiator core support to disable the alarm causing only damage to the support and radiator (a repair that wouldn't cost enough to declare the car totaled). Oh well, one guy's loss is my gain.

Look, don't take this the wrong way, but don't waste your money on a V-6 and then spend money on mods that won't do much, when you can just get a GT for the difference of what the mods would cost.

You can guy a 1999 - 2004 GT (sure, not the newer style), for same price of less then a newer V-6. You can find a nice GT for around $10,000 and it will hold it's value better.

Then, shove a set of 4.10's in the back, and there seriously will not be many cars that will beat you from a light.

that's exactly what i wanted to hear, haha.

so what does the limited slip differential do to help?

BTW, I was not trying to bash the sixer....just that you indicated that you wanted a car that could pull from a stop like it meant business.

Why are you asking about a limited slip? I beleive the sixers and the GT all have limited slip differentials.

If you were commenting on my 4.10 comment, 4.10's are a different gear ratio then stock. The stock gears on a GT are 3.27's. Going to 3.55's, 3.73's, 3.90's, or 4.10's will make thre car accelerate faster and harder.....the 4.10's have the biggest impact. Tt is just like changing the front sprocket on a 10 speed.

actually water, the GT has a stock LSD, but the sixers have an open rear end.


And to answer boombox's question, a LSD lets both rear wheels receive power from the engine, and it is a necessity for a proper burnout.

it was in reference to 01fr500's post that said:
"Alright, for better acceleration I would upgrade the ring and pinon gears to 4:10, a limited slip (T-lok) differential, a programmer to correct for the speedometer and for a performance tune. And have the gears installed by a professional, $250 being about average. The should end up somewhere close to a grand."
i thought the LSD was something that didn't come standard.
so the gears and installation will be $500-600?
what can i expect to pay for the programming and how exactly do i ask for something like that? just say i want a performance tune?
and why does the speedometer need to be corrected?

thanks again to everyone.

also, if i wanted to drop a supercharger in...

what kind of gains could i reasonably expect?
what else would i have to modify/upgrade/install so as not to cause the engine unnecessary harm.
what supercharger would you recommend?

He was referring to the V6 since your question was initially related to those and those don't come stock w/ them.

I'm not sure how much you have to spend, but you might want to seriously consider getting a 4 valve 03-04 mach 1. Stock for stock much faster than a 99-04 GT.....a little faster stock for stock than an 05-08 GT and they are a special edition car. Most people who own mach 1's keep them in great shape.

I don't mean to bash sixers either because I've owned two of them, but the only races you are going to win with a sixer, even with some basic mods are against 4 bangers and some v-6's. Heck most v-6 family cars have 260hp these days, and that doesn't even include the v6 G35's or Z's that are pretty damn quick and beat some v-8's.

I would actually get the car you want first and then start thinking about mods. Everyone has their own opinion on superchargers and they all have their benefits and disadvantages. Pick the car, then the mods.